RELEVANCE

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

INTL FC Stone Incorporated is a Fortune 500 financial services company. We primarily deal with commercial customers, providing them a broad spectrum of financial services.

What is your position?

I am the director of demand generation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

We needed to improve lead generation. We've got a pretty extensive website online, but we want to reach customers through their specific industries. We had Relevance put together for us a series of industry-based risk management profiles.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They develop content and promote it for us.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

The name was passed on to me by my boss who had met them at one of the CMO marketing conferences. When we called them we were looking at two different public relations agencies, but when we figured out the scope of the services offered by Relevance, we opted to use them more for a content creation partner.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The project is between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I'm having them pitch us on to other projects, but all projects are complete as of now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We are still in production with them, so we have not actually published them yet.

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

Relevance is doing wonderfully. They're working very hard to keep everything on track. The initial product they sent to us has just been spot on, so we're just as thrilled as we could be.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

On the front end, they took the time to understand what we were trying to accomplish. They are providing some much needed best practice support. We're pretty picky about who we work with and partner with, and they are helping us expand our capabilities. They've been a tremendous partner.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

Not right now. Again, the challenges are just bandwidth on our end. They've been fantastic trying to keep us on course.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a company that develops software that helps employers automate and improve the hiring process. We deal specifically with the SMB [small to medium-business] space.

What is your position?

I'm the vice president of marketing and talent.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

We have worked with them for quite some time, so our needs have evolved over time. When we first approached them back in 2009, we needed help with search engine optimization.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

In the beginning, it was just SEO [search engine optimization] work and keyword optimization. They would make recommendations to improve our site. For the most part, we would develop or edit the content ourselves based on their consultation. In time, it evolved to include their assistance with earned media and media outreach as well as big content design and layout. They helped with the design and layout of our e-books.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

When we found them, they were number one in Google organic search results.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our annual spend with them was between $32,000 and $42,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They're all complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

In the beginning of our relationship, they were able to get us on page one for a number of organic search terms. They helped us look more reputable with regard to thought leadership in our industry. Their assistance with media outreach and content design dramatically increased the number of inbound leads we had from e-book downloads and resource downloads.

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

Relevance did a very good job. They did a nice job at communicating with me and staying on track with deadlines.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

I had an opportunity during the course of five years to work with a number of different people on their team, and every single person I ever worked with was super sharp and very smart. I was always impressed by the caliber of experience and insight that the people I worked with were able to offer our organization.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

I'm a bit unusual because I have worked with them for so long. That is not the norm in the agency world, but if they specialized in small businesses, it may have been a more effective experience. We were a little fish in a big pond for them and, sometimes, I felt that. I know they tend to work with really large organizations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a global consultancy that provides support to life sciences companies in the area of compliance, quality, and remediation program efforts around the globe.

What is your position?

I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

We had not put a strategic marketing position in place. We were without an internal marketing effort, marketing strategy, or marketing tactics. When we approached Relevance, we were looking for support in that arena, both from a digital perspective as well as a creative and implementation perspective.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Relevance provided extensive services, initially from a strategic planning perspective, then helping us get our digital strategy in place. They also helped us develop a new web presence, a new web strategy, a new social media and direct marketing strategy, as well as helping us – once we had that in place – a strong collateral and creative strategy plan, of which we are still executing today.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

They were part of an RFP [request for proposal] process back in late 2014. We had identified them with a couple of other agencies. After considering all of them, it was clear that Relevance could take on a lead role for us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The project is more than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're still working with Relevance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've probably seen a four-fold increase, if not greater, in our level of engagement in our direct target markets. On our social media as well as our web presence, we have gotten unbelievable feedback from both our internal field-based employees as well as our client base on the way that they're interacting with us via the website.

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is very strong. The lines of communication are very clear, which makes everything run very smoothly.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

Relevance brings a fresh approach to our specific challenge. They were very customer service-focused, were very quick to understand our current situation, and understand what we were trying to accomplish. We were able to work together to provide a very strong result for us in the long term.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

One area that is a challenge is Relevance better understanding of our specific service line within the life sciences arena. We'd love to have someone who has worked within our industry in the past, but it has been a bit of a challenge to get that regardless of the agency. I think that Relevance is learning how hard it is to be able to dial in on our market without strong institutional knowledge. They've continued to move up the curve in learning what we do and how we do it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The name of our company is Finance in America Reverse. We are a reverse mortgage company.

What is your position?

I am the Assistant Vice President of Digital Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

We have a pretty niche product in the market. I didn't feel that there was enough education about our product and I wanted to provide content that would reach our demographic in a unique way. I wanted to change the messaging a little bit. It's been a considerable overhaul, but we’re having fun.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They have done a deep dive into our market research to identify the different market segments of our demographic. They're currently helping us rebuild our website and will then provide content to publish to our site.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

I went to high school with their founders. Because I've known them and the organization for a long time, I have watched them deal with the highs and lows of market changes. They've done a really great job.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project with them is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The market analysis was done specifically to help us build the website. We are going to utilize that research in our search engine marketing, social media, TV, radio, and other forms of media that we might advertise with.

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a good job. I have a great team who has regular meetings and communicates very well.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

Relevance takes a great deal of pride in their work and are cautious of who they hire. There's a uniquely skilled group of people that work at Relevance.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

Sometimes we would like things to get done faster but I don't know if that is necessarily possible. Today, I would not say I have a complaint of any kind; I'm content with the work I've received.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for Forterro, a holding company for ERP [enterprise resource planning] software companies, primarily in Europe.

What is your position?

I'm the vice president of corporate marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

We were in need of content strategy that could be utilized by multiple business units within different countries in Europe.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The first part of their content strategy was research. They looked into content that does well within the countries that we have businesses. They looked at each country's media, current trends, and talked to our customers about what they're interested in hearing about. The goal was to generate some content on our websites that would attract ERP buyers and web conversions.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

I had a previous working relationship with the CEO, Marty [Muse].

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was $10,000 to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're still working on the initial project with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a good job. The deadlines were very clear, and they kept us up to date the entire time. They stayed on scheduled and managed the process very tightly.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

Relevance has a good understanding of search engine optimization and content marketing. They're experts in digital marketing and are very creative.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

They did a good job. I know it can be difficult for a smaller agency to manage a project with an international company. We needed help with SEO and our customers' broader digital experience. Relevance was able to help us with that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Belden is a global supplier of signal transmission products, which is the infrastructure that allows signals to travel between devices, people, and systems. We focus on IT [information technology] contractors and integrator customers who install network infrastructures for data centers and LAN [local area network]-type equipment that go into buildings and structures.

What is your position?

I am the vice president of marketing for our enterprise division.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

We were looking for a better strategy to reaching our intended clientele.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They did surveys of customers and users. They reached out to communities online and did research. They audited of our digital presence and compared in against other competitors in those spaces. Once they collected all that data, they provided a report that had the stats, insights, and suggested next steps as a part of that.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

My predecessor began this project, but it was the previous relationship that my predecessor had with Relevance that ultimately led us to go with them. They are local to Indianapolis, which helped a lot.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Thus far, we have not engaged with another project. That being said, we have been in touch, and I envision future projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Before working with Relevance, our search engine optimization and search terms were ranking low. They helped identify where we would and wouldn't be found which gave us direction on what to work on.

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

Relevance did a very good job. They stuck to the original timeline which was very important to us.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

They had multiple individuals that had areas of specialization. Each person had a very specific role, and it was clear from the beginning that each person in the team was a crucial part of completing the project.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

The only thing they could have done differently has to do with the survey they created. We were hoping to learn next steps after the survey so we could do one ourselves. Unfortunately, the survey took up the entire duration of the project, so we couldn't. That being said, it was a minor thing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is Office Depot.

What is your position?

I am an E-Commerce Marketing Manager. My role is to generate leads for the B2B [business-to-business] sales reps.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with RELEVANCE?

In the B2B world, our goal is to attract new customers to our site. The biggest challenge we had at the time was coming up with content regarding SMBs [small and medium-sized businesses]. We reached out to the RELEVANCE team to identify that piece of content and create it for us.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

RELEVANCE proved that they can do end to end content marketing. We asked them to specifically look at what content we already had, as well as some of the content our competitors are providing. I didn’t want to have a piece of content created that already existed on our competitors’ sites. They looked at the content on a couple of our bigger competitor’s websites and came back with a recommended list of suggestions of pieces of content that we could do.

How did you come to work with RELEVANCE?

I met them at a conference in San Antonio. I ran into one of the founding partners of their organization and struck up a conversation about what they do. I brought him in to talk with us a little bit more about how they could provide what we were looking for at the time.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The size of our initial engagement was $50,000 to $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

All projects are completed. We are beginning a new content development project with them right now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We generated a little over 500 leads in a 6-week period after we launched the content. It’s still being consumed today, and it has been almost a year since it was published. Those 500 leads led to approximately a 10% conversion to purchasing an account with us.

How did RELEVANCE perform from a project management standpoint?

RELEVANCE did excellently. What stuck out to me is that they had incredible communication. They always made sure they understood every aspect thoroughly before moving forward. Everyone on the team understood 100% of what we wanted to accomplish.

What distinguishes RELEVANCE from other providers?

What distinguished them most was that they had such a thorough knowledge of all aspects of an enterprise-level organization such as ours. They knew what we were trying to achieve and how to accommodate us, knowing that we had internal organizations and how to work together within them. That helped in making the decision to go with them. RELEVANCE really knows how to work well with your existing organization so that everybody is included.

Is there anything RELEVANCE could have improved or done differently?

The only challenge RELEVANCE has is that they are a smaller agency. Because of their size, they have a higher susceptibility to fluctuations. Sometimes the team members would change. That being said, we addressed it early on and it didn’t seem to impact our overall project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My organization is a cloud infrastructure service provider called Singlehop.

What is your position?

I am the director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Relevance?

Our first problem was we had a Google penalty that could not be removed. The second problem we had was a lack of visibility. None of our potential customers knew who we were. The third problem was even though we were ranked very well on various keywords, we had stagnated, and there was no way to improve. We needed an agency that could help improve our presence online.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They helped teach us how to follow Google's rules so we don't get penalized again. Then, they went through all the content. They focused on how it was targeted, what it focused on, and if it was good content generally. They provided us with a strategy of how to improve our company's online presence.

How did you come to work with Relevance?

I had a previous relationship with the CEO of Relevance [Marty Muse] and, after looking at their past work, we decided they would be a good fit. They were very collaborative in their approach to working with us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was $15,000 to $20,000 per month. Our partnership began in September 2015.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are currently working with them, and they're on a month-to-month retainer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We're looking at a month-to-month growth rate of about 30 percent roughly from when they started on. That's in terms of leads. In terms of prospects, we're looking at about a 600 percent growth rate.

How did Relevance perform from a project management standpoint?

Relevance was always very open and transparent. We had the ability to hand pick our own team that we liked a lot.

What distinguishes Relevance from other providers?

Relevance have a very mature and enterprise-focused approach. Relevance has been doing this for a long time and it shows.

Is there anything Relevance could have improved or done differently?

The beginning was a bit bumpy but, once we found a good team, everything has worked out well.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

We offer quick and effective communications services to various businesses. We offer a platform of services ranging from technology solutions to voice broadcast solutions to the phone trees, and things like that. We also have a product that’s designed for call centers. It’s a power dialer product with a simple user interface that allows for all kinds of integrations. We also provide cellular phone numbers and offer call tracking.

What is your position?

I’m a marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Relevance?

Relevance is really only working with our text product team. To tell you the truth, they’re not doing anything with our phone services. The product team they’re working with is a brand that we acquired at the beginning of the year. So, everything I just told you is correct, but just simplified down to texting.

The team hired them simply to enhance their SEO [search engine optimizations]practices. Their organic search traffic was the primary issue. They wanted more content being produced to better bridge the gap between the technology and the user. They needed to be able to educate consumers or businesses interested in learning about or wanting to use texting as a part of their marketing mix. At the end of the day, the other product team was hoping these improvements would drive additional revenues.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project? For instance, did it include custom visual design, backend development, information architecture, link building, or training?

I’m familiar with many different approaches to SEO, and we actually have a few different vendors. Relevance focuses on content generation with some link building as well. But, they’re much more focused on content generation, rather than pure link building. They did a fantastic job of really giving us pages to create as well as articles to write for blogs.  

How did you select Relevance as your solution partner?

You know, I didn’t select them. They were selected by the former CMO of the other product team. I know his main criterion for the vendor was the capability to generate valuable content for our site, rather than merely building external links from our current content. As I’ve mentioned, that’s exactly what Relevance was able to do for us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

Sure. It’s been roughly $10,000 per month.

When was this project completed?

The project remains ongoing. We still have a regular blog schedule going with them. We’re not necessarily creating as much page content right now. But, yes, we still having an ongoing relationship with them, and we’ll continue that into the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

Yes. Out of the original list of keywords that we researched, I would say almost 75 percent of those have improved significantly. For example, on nearly half of those listed words we’ll be displayed on the first Google search page, often within the first four pages. We’re definitely making progress. Our goal is to be on the top of the Google search list for all of the search terms, but the progress has been significant, and we’re confident it’s really only a matter of time.

How do you think Relevance has performed on this project?

Relevance has done a wonderful job. I would say a few things that, you know, going forward, I would probably want because we are going to use them going forward. It would be better to have more page content creation than just blog content creation. That would be the only thing I’d request differently of them in terms of performance. I intend to specify that before initiating our next campaign.

When working with Relevance, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them as compared to other vendors with which you’ve worked?

To be honest, I haven’t worked with too many content generation companies, but I appreciate their focus on content generation rather than link building. The changes to the Google algorithm really prioritize rich, deep content, and catering to that reality has made all the difference. They've been an outstanding partner, and they make a real effort to understand their clients' business needs. 

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

At Rackspace, we provide hosting and cloud computing services.

What is your position?

I am the SEO manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Relevance?

I wasn’t here when we initiated it, so I’m not 100 percent positive. At the time, we had two agencies providing similar services, but we wanted to consolidate the responsibilities and retain only one agency. We wanted to keep the one that was giving us the best value. Between those two, we decided to stay with Relevance.

SOLUTION

Could you then describe the scope of the work they’ve delivered to you?

It’s a combination of consulting and link building for us. Their strategic consulting ranges from competitive analysis to reporting and analytics, and keyword research to website migrations. The link building they do is standard content marketing that we do with articles being written, and then syndicated out to third parties.

What in-house expertise did you contribute to the project with Relevance?

I would say our involvement was limited to the creative and strategic areas of the project. Relevance dealt with the custom design and development work as well as the platform testing. We provided the strategic vision, the guidance, so to speak. We basically described what we wanted done given certain constraints and mapped how those objectives fit into the larger framework. Relevance would take our vision and create it. If what was proposed fit our defined scope, we’d then be responsible for the creative content development.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

Not the individual projects because we have it established as a monthly fee. We typically pay between $80,000 and $100,000 per month.

When was the most recent project completed?

Their latest deliverable was last week, doing an analysis of Google’s presence into the cloud computing space. We always have an ongoing project or two with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

A recent report they did for one of our product marketers, a content gap analysis, produced some fantastic results. Their work has streamlined a significant amount of our daily business processes and tasks. A number of our staff members have already expressed great enthusiasm and appreciation for the work Relevance has produced.

How do you think Relevance has performed on these various projects?

I think they’ve performed very well. I’ve been ecstatic about the entire relationship.

When working with Relevance, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other solution providers you’ve worked with?

Relevance is extremely flexible. They don’t have excessive and rigid processes that have to be adhered to no matter what. They’re just a pleasure to work with. Everybody on the team is very friendly, and we have twice weekly calls for progress reports. I’ve been very impressed with them.